


I'd Come For You

by madnephelite



Category: Station 19 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 18:06:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madnephelite/pseuds/madnephelite
Summary: Vic needs someone to pick her up after a date gone wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is in the time that Lucas was interim captain at 19. I just had this idea and needed to write it.

It’s 1am and Vic is trying not to cry but she is tired and cold and she has never felt so stupid in her entire life. She takes her phone out and dials Travis.

“Travis, I’m sorry to call you so late but can you please come and pick me up?” she sniffs into the phone.

“Who is this?” the voice on the other end asks and it’s not Travis.

She looks at the display and realizes that she had accidentally called Ripley.

“OMG, I’m so sorry Chief Ripley. Please forget that I called and go back to sleep.” she tells him.

“Hughes? Is that you?” he mumbles as she nods her head forgetting that he can’t see her. “What’s wrong? Are you crying?”

“I’m fine, Chief. You don’t have to worry. I will just call Travis.” 

“Nonsense. I’m already up. Tell me where you are and I will come pick you up.” 

“It’s really not necessary.” she insists.

“Hughes.” he says in a stern voice. “Tell me where you are and I will come for you.” he repeats.

Vic searches her coordinates on her phone and sends them to him.

“Okay, I got it. I’ll be there in about ten minutes. Stay on the phone, so I know that you are okay.”

Five minutes later, his truck stops in front of her and she gets in. She is shivering and rubbing her arms to warm up.

“Wait, let me turn on the heat.” he tells her as he reaches for something in the backseat. It’s a blanket that he hands her. She quickly throws it over her shivering body. She notices that the blanket smells like him and it makes her feel secure and safe. 

She gives him directions to her apartment and he starts the car. 

“So you wanna tell me what happened?” he inquires.

“I rather not.” she feels ashamed and stupid and she knows that he can tell.

“Whatever it was, it’s not your fault.” he assures her.

“I was on a date with this guy and we parked at a makeout spot and when I told him that I’m not going to sleep with him and that he should just drive me home, he threw me out of his car and drove off. Luckily, I had my purse with my phone and money in my hand but my jacket is still in his car and it was my favorite jacket.” she finally spills.

“What a douchebag. That’s no way to treat women.” he says outraged as he looks at her. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” he asks concerned and Vic sees a different side of him.

“No, I’m fine. He didn’t attack me or anything, just didn’t like me saying “No”. I just feel really stupid and embarrassed and I’m really sorry that I dragged you into this. I tried to call Travis but must have pressed the wrong contact. I’m really sorry, Chief.”

“Stop apologizing, Hughes. You can always call me and there is nothing to feel stupid or embarrassed about. You did nothing wrong. He did. You understand me?” she nods her head.

“We are here.” he says as he stops the car, exits it and walks over to her side, opening the door for her.

She smiles at him for being so chivalrous as he helps her out of his truck. As their hands touch, she feels a spark but ignores it.

He walks her to her apartment door before saying goodnight and assuring her one more time that it’s not her fault.

Two days later, she comes home to find a package at her door. When she opens it, she finds her jacket in it with a little note that says:

_ You said it’s your favorite, so I thought you should have it back. And don’t worry about my hand. It will heal.  _

It’s signed with a winky face and the initials LR and Vic smiles as she holds the jacket to her chest and it smells like him.

When she comes to work the next day wearing her jacket, he is already there and she notices that his knuckles are red and realizes what he had done. 

“Thank you, Chief. You really didn’t have to.” she tells him.

“It was my pleasure and somebody had to teach that guy a lesson.” he says as he winks at her and she blushes.


	2. Returning the Favor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic has to pick up a drunk Chief Ripley from Joe's bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't supposed to be this long but yeah once I started writing I couldn't stop.

It’s almost midnight when her phone vibrates and she sees it’s her friend Trish from Joe’s bar.

“Hey Trish, what’s up?” she says as she picks up.

“Hey Vic, sorry for calling you so late. I was wondering do you know a tall, blonde guy with a beard in his mid-forties?” she asks and Vic furrows her forehead.

That sounds a lot like Ripley, she thinks.

“Uhm, yeah I do. Why are you asking?” she wonders.

“Well, he is kinda drunk like a skunk and about to pass out and I would put him in a cab but I have no idea where he lives and he has no phone or wallet with him and he mentioned your name a few times, so I figured I just call you to come and get him.” Trish explains.

“Okay. I will be there in five.” she is about to hang up but remembers that Trish said that Ripley had no wallet with him “Oh, how much does he owe you?”

“Oh nothing. He had money with him, just no wallet or phone. See you in five.” Trish says and hangs up.

She is in her pyjamas but she doesn’t have time to change so she just grabs her cardigan and puts it on.

Five minutes later, she enters the bar and finds the Chief passed out at a table.

“Thank god, you are here.” Trish says.

“Why didn’t you cut him off sooner?” Vic wonders.

“I did but then the boss had me do the inventory and he kept on refilling his glass and well.” she looks apologetic at Vic. “Do you need help to get him home?”

“No, it’s fine. I carry heavier things at work. Thanks for calling me.” Trish nods at her before grabbing a napkin and scribbling something on it.

“Tell him to call me when he is sober. He is kinda cute.” she hands Vic her number and Vic just smiles and nods at her.

She walks over to Ripley and nudges him to wake up. After a minute or two, he finally comes to and looks at her with wide eyes.

“Hughes, you came.” he gives her a goofy grin before standing up and hugging her. Vic stumbles backwards but manages to keep her balance. 

She puts his arm around her shoulder and puts hers around his waist and then slowly makes her way to the door. She starts walking towards her apartment. He can barely stand, is mumbling nonsense that she doesn’t understand and it takes her fifteen minutes to get to her place instead of the usual five.

Before she walks into her building, she takes out the napkin Trish gave her, crumbles it and throws it in the trash. Trish is a nice girl but she would eat Ripley alive and she can’t do that to her boss. 

“What was that?” he asks and she feels her cheeks burning.

“Uhm, nothing. Let’s get you upstairs.” he forgets about the napkin and nods at her.

Vic is glad that the elevator is working because dragging him up the stairs would have been terrible.

When she finally enters her apartment, she drops him onto her couch and walks into the kitchen to get him a glass of water and two advils. By the time she comes back into the living room, he is already asleep and Vic sighs. She puts the water and pills down on the table before propping his feet up on the couch. She removes his jacket and shoes and then walks into her bedroom to grab a pillow and blanket for him.

As she covers him with the blanket, she realizes it’s his from last week that she never gave back. She smiles as she watches him sleep. He looks rather peaceful and Vic feels bad for him because he will wake up with the worst hangover.

Vic wonders what had prompted him to get himself this drunk. She always assumed he was the responsible type who ends up the designated driver to his drunk friends and didn’t expect him to be one himself.

When she yawns, she realizes the time, takes one last look at her sleeping Chief before going to bed herself.

\----------

The next morning, he wakes up with the worst headache. He groans as he looks around and doesn’t know where he is. 

“What the hell happened last night?” he wonders until he spots photographs on the wall and realizes that Hughes is in all of them. That’s when it finally dawns on him.

“Oh fuck, I’m in Hughes’ apartment.” he curses silently. 

As he looks at the table next to him, he sees the glass of water and the advil. He sits up and drowns the pills and water in one gulp. Then he slowly stands up and walks towards the noise. He finds her in the kitchen making breakfast, still wearing her pyjamas, her hair is up in a bun and she is swaying her hips and dancing to the music that is playing quietly in the background. He smiles as he watches her for a moment, startling her when she turns around.

“OMG, Chief you scared me.” she says louder than probably intended and he winces. “Sorry, Chief.” she whispers.

“It’s okay, Hughes. I’m sorry for scaring you in your own apartment. Can I used your bathroom, please?” she nods.

“Sure, it’s the door on the left.” he nods and thanks her as he makes his way to her bathroom. 

Once there, he quickly washes his face and rinses his mouth with some of her mouthwash. He quickly relieves himself and washes his hands before walking back into the kitchen, sitting down in one of the chairs.

He watches her as she grabs the coffeepot and fills a mug with the liquid, putting two sugars in it and placing it on the table in front of him. He looks at her surprised.

“What?” she wonders.

“You know how I drink my coffee?” he asks, eyebrow slightly raised.

“You do have breakfast with us every shift, so.” she shrugs as she walks back to the stove and puts eggs and bacon on two plates, grabs her own coffee and sits down beside him, their legs brushing against each other underneath the table but neither making an attempt to move away.

They eat in comfortable silence and Lucas feels content for the first time in a long time. He had missed this.

“Chief, if you don’t mind me asking.” Vic interrupts his thoughts. “What happened last night? You were pretty drunk.”

He is already embarrassed that she had seen him like that, so he might as well give her an explanation.

“Yesterday was the anniversary of my divorce.” he tells her, taking a sip from his coffee.

“Oh, you miss your ex-wife?” she wonders.

“No. That is not it. I just -- it just finally dawned on me how lonely life can be sometimes. I buried myself in work after the divorce and climbed the ladder pretty quickly and now I am the Chief and I guess, I just realized that there is nothing more to achieve anymore and it made me look at my life and yeah, I ended up feeling sorry for myself so I went for a drink and that turned into another and another.” he chuckles.

“I’m really sorry. Have you tried maybe connecting with your ex again? Maybe that would help?”

“Absolutely not. She cheated on me and and that is something I can’t forgive. Though, I guess, I wasn’t the best husband to begin with because I spend more time on the job than with her.”

“Still not a reason to cheat.” she assures him as she squeezes his hand. He smiles at her and she smiles back.

“Thank you, Hughes.”

“Well, you helped me last week, so I’m returning the favor.” she winks at him before taking the plates and putting them in the sync.

“This is really nice.” he thinks.

“What is?” she asks and he realizes that he had just said it out aloud. He turns away as a blush creeps up his cheeks.

“Uhm, just this -- the company. Sharing breakfast with someone. I haven’t done that in a while. It’s nice.” he admits.

“I’m sure that’s not true. What about your friends? You sure have shared breakfast with them over the last few years.”

“Sure but that’s not the same as sharing it with a beaut...” he stops himself before he can finish the sentence. When he looks at her, her cheeks are flushed and she is smiling shyly at him, knowing exactly what he was about to say, before turning back to the sync to rinse the dirty dishes. 

He stands up and walks over to where she is standing. He is standing way too close to her and he knows it but she is not moving away so he just enjoys being close to someone.

“You’ll rinse and I dry?” he offers as she hands him the wet plate and he smiles at her.

“Can I ask you something?” she turns off the water and turns so she can look at him.

“Sure.”

“Trish, the bartender from last night, said that you mentioned my name a few times and that’s why she called me to get you. Uhm, what did you say to her?”

“Oh, I -- I don’t remember.” he lies and he knows that she can tell but she lets it go with a nod of her head and resumes the task at hand.

“I should probably leave after we are done here. I’ve inconvenienced you enough already.” he tells her.

“You are not an inconvenience. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy your company.” he chuckles at that.

“Kinda hard to believe with all the yelling.” he jokes.

“Hey, it was only twice.” she defends herself.

“That is twice more than anyone else has yelled at me since I became the Fire Chief.” he quirks his eyebrow at her and watches her shrug her shoulders before walking away from him.

“Unbelievable,” he thinks as he shakes his head and laughs to himself, thinking that he has never met anyone quite like her.

He follows her into her living room and finds her on the couch, flipping through netflix.

“What do you want to watch?” she asks him as she turns around to look at him.

“Uhm, I thought I was leaving.”

“Uhm, I thought we established that we both like each others company.” she turns back to her TV and he considers her words for a moment. He knows that this is a bad idea and he should leave but instead he sits down beside her.

“Is that my blanket?” he wonders not expecting an answer. She just nods at him.

“So what are you in the mood for?” she asks again.

“How about that new horror show? The Haunting of Hill House? I heard it’s good.”

“That’s like ten episodes.” she tells him and he shrugs.

And so they watch The Haunting of Hill House. He finds out that even though she likes watching horror, she scares easily, so she spends a lot of time covering her eyes with his blanket. She is also very jumpy and by episode three, she is basically sitting in his lap but she doesn’t seem to mind so neither does he. 

  
By episode seven, she is asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. He looks down at her and brushes a loose strand of hair from her face. He grabs the remote and turns of the TV before picking her up bridal style and carrying her into her bedroom, carefully laying her down in her bed.

He pulls the covers over her sleeping form and looks at her for a moment. 

“She looks like an angel” he thinks before taking a deep breath and walking out of her room. He grabs his shoes and jacket and leaves her apartment.

\----------

The next day, she walks into his office and closes the door behind her. She pulls something out of her bag and places it on his desk. 

“You forgot your blanket. You know that’s what women usually do in rom-coms. They leave their stuff at the guys’ place so that he has to call them and see them again.” she chuckles and so does he.

“Well, I don’t really need that excuse. I see you at work every day.” he winks at her.

“Thanks for yesterday. I was looking forward to some me-time but then you happened and it was really nice.” she tells him.

“Thank you, I think.” he is not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment.

“Oh, no. No, I'm sorry. I mean -- I mean -- I mean it was a good thing that you were drunk and I had to come and get you. And this is so coming out the wrong way.” he chuckles as he bites his lip.

“What I’m trying to say is. Thank you for the company. I really enjoyed having you. I didn’t realize how much I needed it.”

“I get it. I feel the same way. Thank you. For picking me up and taking care of me. You really didn’t have to.”

“Happy to.” she simply says as she squeezes his hand, gives him a warm, bright smile and leaves his office.


End file.
